Forced air and gravity circulating heating apparatus



, J. w. MILLER 2,470,571 FORCED AIR AND GRAVITY GIRCULATING HEATING APPARATUS 2 Sheqts-Sheet l INVENTOR.

JOHN W. MlLLER UMZZ/ J 4 ATTORNEY FIG.

6 A 2 5 Mn 3 2 [v llllllllll II X X B m I L i ,v .H. H H l H 3 H U H May 17, 1949.

Filed Dec. 29, 1945 I I I l l l l I l I MW I I I l I l l I l l I l l 44 Iv(444 3 .4. 2 \)\L May 17, 1949. J. w. MILLER 2,470,571

- FORCED AIR AND GRAVITY CIRCULATING HEATING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 29, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a: c; a

FIG 3 51 A K; INVBVTOR.

JOHN W. MILLER BY I M M FIG 4 5 AITORNEY Patented May 17, 1949 Foncnn m m cnavrry cmcuul'rmc HEATING arrana'rus John W. Miller, Lansing, Mich, aaoignor to Motor Wheel Corporation, Lansing tion of Michigan Mich, a corpora- Application December 29, 1945, Serial No. 638,152

of heating the building uniformly by the con-' ventional type of heating apparatus arises. Ordinarily it is the practice to place a small circulatin heater in one room of the building which sumces to heat that room. Usually it is not possible to heat other rooms in the building adequately with such heaters.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a compact circulating heater which can be installed in one room of a building and which is provided with means for forcing warm air to other rooms in the building.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a heater in which provision is made for selectively discharging warm air through ducts arranged adjacent the ceiling or adjacent the floor of the building.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a heater of unitary construction which can be economically manufactured and easily installed in a building.

These objects will more fully appear in the following specification, when read in connection with the accompanyin drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a heater embodying the present invention, parts being broken away to more clearly show the construction thereof;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on substantially the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of a modifled form of heater;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the same; and

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on substantially the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Figures 1 and; 2 disclose one form of the invention. The heater comprises a heat exchanger in substantially completely enclosed within an outer casing H. The heat exchanger comprises a steel shell havin atubular side wall i2, a top wall l3 and a bottom wall II. The tubular side wall is provided with an access opening closed by a hinged door IS. The top wall I3 is provided with an outlet opening to which is attached a stack ii to discharge products of combustion; Preferably the bottom wall is provided with an opening to admit air for combustion to the heat exchanger. A duct i1 is attached to the bottom 2 wall ll around this opening. In the lower portion of the .heat exchanger is an oil burner l3, preferably a burner of the vaporizing type.

The casing ll, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, is of generally rectangular. configuration. It is made up of two side panels ii, a front panel 34, a back panel 35, a top panel 20 and a bottom panel 2|, all of which are attached together in any suitable manner. Preferably'the front panel 34 of the casing is provided with louvers 22 adjacent the bottom thereof and louvers 23 adjacent the top thereof. One=side panel I! is provided with louvers 24 adjacent the bottom thereof.

Located within the casing II is a vertically extending air duct 25. The lower end of'the duct 25 has a short lateral extension "projecting out through the side wall of the casing to which a conduit 21 may be attached. The conduit 21 leads to a register in another room. Preferably a conventional-pivoted damper 23 is mounted in the conduit 21.

The duct 25 is provided with another lateral extension 29 projecting into the casing H. The

, down through thefloor 33and may be connected extension 29 has an opening in the front thereof which communicates with the louvers 22 in the front panel of the casing.

The upper end of the duct 25 has an outlet opening at the top of the casing to which a conduit 30 may be attached. This conduit may lead to a register in another room of the building in which the heater is placed, or it-may be ar-' ranged to discharge directly into the room in which the heater is installed.

A centrifugal fan 3i of the axial intake-radial discharge type is mounted within the casing ll: above the heat exchanger Ill. The discharge opening in the fan 3! is connected to, an opening in the side of duct 25 adjacent the top of'the casin II. A damper 32 is pivotally mounted at one edge thereof at one side of duct 25. The damper 321s preferably arranged opposite the center of the discharge opening from the fan 3|, as indicated in Figure 1.

The entire heater is shown as being installed on a floor 33 of a building. The duct l'l extends by an extension, not-shown, to the exterior'of the building, or it may opendirectly beneath the floor 33.

It will be evident from'the' description of the heater that when the latter is in operation and the heat exchanger is hot, 5011181811 will circulate by gravity through thecasing II. The air enters the louvers 24, passes over the heat exchanger and is issued through the louvers 23.

Normally the air thus circulated is sufllcient to heat the room in which the heater is installed.

In addition, hot air may be discharged from the casing by means of the fan 31 through the duct 25. By arranging the bailie 32 in the downwardly inclined position, indicated in dotted lines 320, the lower part of the duct 25 is blocked off. The air from the fan then issues through the conduit 39 and is blown to the room to which the conduit 30 is connected. By swinging the damper 32 to its upwardly inclined position, indicated by dotted lines at 32b, the duct-39 will be blocked off. The warm air is then blown downwardly through duct 25 and out through louvers 22, or through conduit 21, or to some extent through both. It is often desirable to be able to discharge warm air adjacent the floor of the building in order to more effectively heat the same. All of the air discharged downwardly through duct 25 may be forced out through louvers 22 by closing the damper 28. It maybe desirableto discharge warm air through both duct 25 and duct 39 simultaneously. To efiect that result the damper 32 may be set in an intermediate position such as is shown infull lines.

Figures 3 to 5 illustrate a somewhat modified form of the invention. The heating apparatus disclosed in these'figures comprises a heat exchanger 59 similar to the one described previously. A stack ii is connected to the upper end of the heat exchanger and passes upwardly through the ceiling of the building in which the heater is installed.

The heat exchanger is surrounded by a casing 52 of generally rectangular configuration. The casing. 52 is relatively tall and may extend to the ceiling of the room in which the heater is installed, if desired. A duct 53 is located in one corner of the casing 52 and extends vertically therethrough. The upper end of the duct is provided with a lateral outlet 5|- and a vertical outlet 55. Either or both of these outlets may be connected by suitable conduits to other rooms of the building. Another pair of outlets 55 and 51 are formed adjacent the bottom of the duct 53. Duct 55 may discharge into another room of the building while duct 51 may discharge below the floor and be connected by a conduit to some other space within the building.

A fan 59 is positioned within the casing 52 above the heat exchanger 59. Preferably this fan is of the reversible type disclosed in my prior Patent No. 2,363,191, granted November 21, 1944. Fan 59 comprises a generally box shaped housing 59 having a cylindrical fan casing 60 rotatably mounted therein. A fan SI of the radial discharge type is rotatably mounted within the casing 59. The housing 59 is provided with outlets 52 and 53 and inlets 54 and 55. The housing is also provided with diagonal baffles 10. By rotating the casing 50 air may be drawn in through inlet 54 and discharged through outlets 53 or it may be drawn in through inlet 65 and discharged through outlet 52, the bailles I9 serving as partition members within housing 59. Thus it will be seen that air can be directed through the duct 52 either upwardly or downwardly as desired.

Because of the relatively great height of the casing 52 it is possible to install therein a small cupboard 65 having shelves 61. The walls of the cupboard preferably are formed of metal so that the cupboardwill be relatively warm and may be used for storage of such articles as it is desired to keep warm and dry.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the present invention provides a, compact and economical unitary heater for a small dwelling that can be utilized to distribute heat uniformly throughout the dwelling. The heater is arranged so that warm air can be discharged either along the floor, which is usualy desirable in house trailers, or into the upper part or partsof the various rooms. The air circulating system can also be used to circulate air during warm weather when the heater is not operating, in order to maintain relatively comfortable temperatures within the dwelling. I I

The scope of the invention is indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a heater of the circulating type including a heat exchanger and a casing enclosing said heat exchanger in spaced relation thereto, said casing having openings therein at the top and bottom thereof for the circulation of air therethrough by gravity; the improvement which comprises, in combination, an air duct attached to said casing, said air duct having an inlet opening and a pair of spaced apart outlet openings communicating therewith exteriorly of said heat exchanger, said outlet openings being located adjacent the top and bottom of the heater respectively and being adapted for connection with conduits leading to rooms remote from the room in which said heater is located for conducting heated air to said remote rooms, an air circulating fan in said casing, said fan being located adjacent the top of the heat exchanger and arranged to discharge air from said casing into said duct through said air inlet opening, and a baflie in said duct, said bailie being adjustable in said duct to two extreme positions to divert air entering said air inlet opening selectively toward one or the other of said outlet openings for selectively heating one of said remote rooms.

2. A combination as defined in claim 1 wherein said baiile is adjustable to a position intermediate said extreme positions whereby to divert air to both of said outlet Op JOHN W. liilILLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of /record in the tile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Siegler et a1. Aug. 22, 1944 

